JASON STRAZIUSO
KABUL

The release of five Taliban prisoners in exchange for a kidnapped Italian reporter sets a perilous precedent that could put foreign journalists in Afghanistan in serious danger, politicians warned yesterday.

Italy's deputy foreign affairs minister, Ugo Intini, confirmed the Afghan government freed five prisoners to win the release of La Repubblica reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo, the second Italian journalist to be kidnapped in lawless Helmand province in four months.

Though the Afghan government called the exchange "an exceptional case", the Taliban may already have learned that capturing a reporter pays.

"When we create situations where you can buy the freedom of Taliban fighters when you catch a journalist, in the short term there will be no journalists any more," said the Dutch foreign minister, Maxime Verhagen, during a visit to Kabul.

"The Dutch government will not give in to such situations, because otherwise you will support taking of hostages," he added.

Mohammad Karim Rahimi, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said the exchange came about after Karzai told authorities to find a solution to the kidnapping.

Asked about the controversy surrounding his release yesterday, Mastrogiacomo said: "If things are done to save a human life ... this is a positive thing." The fate of his translator is still unknown.-AP